Entrée

An entrée (/ˈɑːntreɪ/ /ˈɒntreɪ/ AHN-tray; French for "entrance", pronounced: [ɑ̃tʁe]) refers to types of dishes.

In French cuisine, as well as in the English-speaking world (save for the United States and parts of Canada), it is a dish served before the main course, or between two principal courses of a meal.

In North American English, the term retains an older meaning describing a heavy, meat course, due to the disappearance in the early-20th century of a large communal main course, such as a roast, as a standard part of the meal in the English-speaking world. This use of the term is almost unheard of outside North America, as most other English speakers follow contemporary French usage, generally considering the word "entrée" to mean a first course.

In 1961 Julia Child and her co-authors outlined the character of such entrées, which—when they did not precede a roast—might serve as the main course of a luncheon, in a chapter of "Entrées and Luncheon Dishes" that included quiches, tarts and gratins, soufflés and timbales, gnocchi, quenelles, and crêpes.

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